Electric signal



(No Model.)

2 SheetsSheet 1., H. T. HILL.

ELECTRIC SIGNAL.

g Patented Sept. 4, 1888.

N. PETERS. Phnlo-um ra hur. wamngxm Dv c (No Model.)

42 Sheets-Sheet 2 H. T. HILL.

ELECTRIC SIGNAL.

Patented Sept. 4, 1888.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

HENRY T. HILL, OF MANCHESTER, NEIV HAMPSHIRE.

ELECTRIC SIGNAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 388,869, dated September 4, 1888.

Application filed December 17,1886. Serial No. 221,884. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY T. HILL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Manchester, in the county of Hillsborough and State of New Hampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Signals; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked th ereon,which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in electric signals; and it consists in an electric signaling apparatus particularly adapted for use in establishing communication bet-ween the locomotive and the different cars of a railway-train, but which is also adapted to be used in establishing communication between the various rooms of a house, manufactory, shop, &c.

The object of the invention is to provide a system of signals which may be operated at any point throughout its extent, instead of confining the operation to certain specified points along the line, where buttons are located; and it consists in such a construction and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth.

Hitherto it has been the common practice for the conductor of a railroad-train to communicate with his engineer by means of a cord running through the several cars and attached to a bell or gong in the cab of the engine. This cord is generally suspended from the top of the car by suitable appliances in sucha manner that the conductor or other person wishing to communicate with the engineer might pull it; butthis method has beenfound to be very unsatisfactory, for the reason that in long trains when the conductor happened to be in therear of the train he could not ring the bell Without great exertion in pulling up all the slack in the bell-cord. Furthermore, he was never certain that he had rung the bell until some responsive action on the part of the engineersuch as a whistle or a lessening of the speed of the train-indicated the fact. The old-style bellcord thus described has in some measure been supplanted by electrical signals,

in a great majority of which, however, but tons are made use of to operate the signal. Supposing these buttons to be located in each end of the car, or supposing them to be situ ated at only two or three points in the car, the person desiring to ring the bell must traverse the distance intervening between himself and a button before he could do so. This often causes greatinconvenicncc, and in many cases serious consequences follow. It is for the purpose of overcoming these disadvantages, so patent in the previous methods of communieating between conductor and engineer, that I have devised the signaling system herein set forth.

In the annexed drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure l is an outline representation of a couple of cars in a railway-train, showing the location of the bell in each car and their connecting cable. Fig. 2 is a detail View of two or more bells, batteries, and the wires composing the cable which connects the bells. Fig. 3 isa viewshowing one way of securing the conuectingcable to the switch. Fig. at is a side view of the same and showing the location of bell, battery, and switch within a box, which is shown in dotted lines. Fig. 5 shows another way of connecting the cable with the switch, and Fig. 6 is an end view of the same. Fig. 7 is a vertical section of my improved form of coupling. Fig. 8 is a hori- Zontal sectional plan view, and Fig. 9 is an end view, of the same.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts.

B represents abox, which is preferably used to contain a bell, battery, and switch. \Vhen the device is to be employed on a railwaytrain, one of these boxes is placed in each car. In Fig. l the location of the boxes is indicated. They are suspended from the top of the car by means of ornamental arms, in order to give the device a neat and tasty appearance; butit is obvious that they may be arranged in any manner and located in any part of the car. A cable, A, composed, preterab1y,of three wires, a b 0, establishes communication between the bells within the several cars and the bell or bells within the cab. The cable has its several portions belonging to the several cars coupled together by means of any suitable and convenient coupling at 0, so that when the train is made up a continuous bell cable throughout its whole length may be put into working order in a manner similar to con necting the parts of the ordinary bell-cord.

NVithin the boxes or bell-cases B is situated a bell and also the parts essential to accomplish the ringing of that bell. These parts usually consist of a switch, 0, with which the cable A is connected, and also a battery of one or more cells.

Manifestly the entire battery may, if desired, be situated in the cab; but I generally prefer to have one or more cells situated near each hell or gong. p

In Fig. 1 a switch, 0, is seen projecting from the bottom of'eaeh box and having the cable attached to these projecting ends. This switch is pivoted at one of its ends in some suitable manner within the box, as atf, the other end being free to be drawn to the right or left. Theswitch is kept normally in an upright position by means of springs. (Not shown.) The cables coming toward the end of the switch in each direction are connected with it in some suitable manner and then turned up alongside of and across the same.

The cable in crossing the switch has the covering removed from its wires, so that they may be connected with screws or other devices secured upon the switch 0. In Fig. 3 I have shown a representation of the switch as thus arranged, and Fig 4 is a side view of the same switch,and shows also the other contents of one of the boxes. One of the wires, as I), which is fastened to a screw upon the switch, passes from the screw to the battery. Another wire, as 0, passes from the switch to the bell. Battery and bell are connected by a short wire, d. The connections ofb and c with battery and bell are permanently maintained, while the wire a is brought into the circuit when the switch is moved to the right or left. This other strand or wire, a, of the cable is affixed to a screw, which passes through a plate, E, having springlike ends bent at right angles to its main portion, as is seen in Fig. 4.

The switch 0 is provided with a block or bar, D, ofinsulating material, such as vulcanized rubber, which holds the screws which connect with wires a b c. The screws for the wires a and c are fastened into the insulator alone, while the screw for the wire 1) passes through the insulator and into the switch-bar 0. Thus the wire Z) connects with the battery and also with the switch. The switch-bar G is further provided with studs or projecting pins 9, on each side, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5.

Adjustable stop-pins P are situated on each side of the switch, so as to limit its lateral swing. I have thus far been describing the construction of that form of switch shown in Figs. 3 and 4. In Figs. 5 and 6 is shown a slight modification. The stop pins P are located on opposite sides of the free end of the switch, instead of on opposite sides of the middle, and consequently the spring-plate E and the studs g g, are located at the end. Further, the cable does not meet the switch at the end, but near the middle. In such a case as this it would pass through apertures in the sides of the box B, and all the accompanying mechanism of the switch would be concealed, instead of having the bar 0 project through the bottom.

The operation of the device as thus described is as follows: \Vhen the cable A is pulled at any point, the switch 0 will be thrown over against one of the stop-pins P. This depresses the spring end of the plate E as it touches the the pin P, so that said spring end comes into contact with the projecting stud g on the switcl1-bar. Thus communication is established between thcwire a and the wire I). In so doing the circuit is made complete, so that all the bells will ring both in the cars and in the cab. It is obvious that the conductor if he hears the bell ring in one car can depend with certainty upon the fact that the bell has-rung in the engine, for if one hell rings they must all necessarily ring, as they are all in the same circuit.

Many ways may probably be devised for carrying out the principle of my invention, and I have here recorded with minute particularity only one of those ways as illustrative of the principle.

The invention is as well adapted for houses, factories, 820., as for railway-cars, and the necessary variations of the system, as herein set forth, can easily be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

If, from motives of economy or for other reasons, it be desired to dispense with the bells in the ears and ring only the one (or two) in the cab, it may be done without violating the spirit of my invention, although I believe the system as heretofore described with a bell in each car to present certain advantages. No alterations would be made save that the box which would contain the switch would be smaller, since it would not also inclose a bell and cell.

Figs. 7, 8, and 9 illustrate my improved form of coupling for the cables at points between the cars. It may be made of metal or hard rubber, and consists of shells X, containing two or three springs, 00 :0 x, which are connected with the wires of the cable by screws or other devices. A thimblc or collar, Y, is screwed or otherwise fastened to the shell X, so as to cover the wires, screws, and rear ends of the springs, which may be packed with some water-proof material which will protect the wires from any dampness. The outer flange of the shell is grooved to receive a rubber packing, 00. The springs 00 are made with bevels y in such a manner that any other coupling may be connected by a simple sliding together of the two beveled sides of the springs, and the inside bevel is sharper than the outer bevel, as shown, so that when together the tendency when the cable is being pulled is to draw the parts of the coupling closer instead of to loosen it. It may, however, be easily separated, and in case the train should be broken apart the springs would be sufficient to give the alarm before separating the coupling.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. An electrical signaling apparatus consisting of an electrical circuit, including electric bells connected by a triple-wire cable whose wires are attached to circuit-closing switches, two of the wires being permanently connected with the batteries and bells, said circuit being normally open but adapted to be closed to ring the bells by a pull upon the cable which oscillates the switches and brings the third wire into circuit, substantially as described.

2. An electric signaling apparatus consisting ofthecombinatiomwith electricbells,ofcircuitclosing switches and a triple-wire cable connectingsaidswitches,two ofthewiresbeingpermanently connected with the batteries and bells, while the third is brought into the circuit when the switch is moved, and all the parts being arranged and adapted to be operated manually by a pull upon the cable at any point throughout its length, so as to ring all the bells in the circuit, substantially as shown and described.

3. In an electric signaling apparatus, the combination of a triple-wire cable, pivoted switch-bars, with which the exposed wires of the cable are severally connected, abattery connected with each switch by a wire passing to one of the cable-strands, and bells connecting with each switch by a wire to another cable-strand, all arranged and operating in such a manner that a pull upon any part of the cable will move the switch and connect the current passing through the last cable-strand with the current passing to battery, substantially as shown and described.

at. In an electrical signaling apparatus, the combination, with battery and a bell, of a pivoted switchbar and a triple-wire cable attached to said bar in such a manner that two of its wires may be permanently connected with the battery and bell, respectively, while the third is adapted to be broughtinto the circuit by a pull upon the cable and a consequent movement of the switch-bar, substantially as described.

5. In an electrical signaling apparatus, the combination of a triple-Wire cable, a pivoted switch-bar provided with an insulatingblock, the holdingserews in the insulating'block to which the cable-wires are connected, two of said screws being fastened into the insulator alone, while the third passes through it into the switch-bar, and a connected battery and bell, the battery being permanently connected with that one of the wires whose holding-screw enters the switch, and the bell being permanently connected with one of the wires whose holding-screw is in the insulator alone, while the third wire is arranged to be brought into the circuit to ring the hell by a pull on the cable, whereby the switch is oscillated, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY T. HILL. lVitnesses:

S. N. BELL, L. B. JONES. 

